MOTHER'S DAY, celebrated in the Arab World on March 21 and in some other countries on the second Sunday in May, is a time to show our love and appreciation for our mothers and the role that they have played in our lives. The day is sometimes marked by mothers being presented with gifts, being taken out to dinner or being recognized in some other special way. Not all mothers, however, are so fortunate as to be surrounded by the love of their children on Mother's Day, especially some of the expatriate mothers who are living in the Kingdom. Saudi Gazette interviewed some of these mothers who, despite facing the hardships of life and may be separated from their children, are still shining examples of the power of a mother's love. A tale of two nurses Nurse Rehana asked the lady doctor to help her check her e-mail for photographs and video clips of her children in India. The photographs were taken at Eid when the entire family was together at their ancestral home in Hyderabad. As soon as the photos appeared on the screen, Rehana dissolved into a flood of tears. The only one missing in those clippings was her. When the lady doctor asked what was wrong, Rehana replied, “Both my children have become lean. There is no one to cook and give them the kind of food that they like. No one to wait on them.” Another nurse at the same polyclinic had to leave behind three children in Egypt in order to earn a livelihood. Of late, one of them had become ill which made her apprehensive for his health. She told the doctor, “I wonder whether the medicines are being given at the right time, whether my child is running around instead of taking some rest.” Poverty does not affect motherhood Fatima Yousuf is from the Wadi Fira region of the Republic of Chad. She is the mother of four children. “Life is hard but I am used to adversities. However, it is really difficult for me to see my children hungry,” said Yousuf. She said that since eastern Chad suffers from severe poverty and harsh living conditions, she and her husband find the life a bit easier in Jeddah. “I search for food in the garbage bins along the street and collect bottles and tins to earn money and food. When I have food, I feed my children because I am used to going without food, but children do not know how to be patient when they are hungry. I am a mother; I cannot eat if my children are hungry.” ‘I can't tell my son about my divorce' Ameera Kamal Siddiqui is an Indian who was divorced after five years of marriage. She has a son, Naef. “It was a love marriage but, our natures were different. I became a mother after a year. My son is four years old and I do not want to tell him about my divorce. I allow my ex-husband to meet with my boy so that he will not feel that his mother and father have split up.” Siddiqui works in the administration of an international school and shoulders all of her son's expenses on her own. “My ex-husband does not pay for my son's expenses. I take him outside on the weekends myself so that he can have fun and play with other children, and he stays with my mother while I am at work,” she said. ‘Their father has abandoned us' Umm Faisal is a Saudi mother with a son and two daughters, whose husband abandoned her and the children to face the world alone. “I have heard nothing about him for more than one year. I have no idea where he might be. He was angry with me because his mother did not like me. I did not want to apply for a divorce and so I am waiting for him,” she said. “Right now I am teaching in a school and earning some money so that I can feed my children. My eldest daughter is nine years old and my son, who is the youngest of the three, is six years old. They ask me about their father, but I have no answer,” said Umm Faisal. ‘Waiting to meet my children' Shabnam Naz is a mother of three children. Her sons are miles away from her in Karachi completing their studies. “The bond that I share with them is something I cannot describe in words. Their presence illuminates my life even though they are far away from me. I just cannot wait for the day when their exams are over and we can be together once again. Naz has learned to use the computer so that she can stay in touch with her children. She chats with them daily. She said that she always remembers the truth of the saying, “A mother puts her faith in the seasons of time and patiently plants the seeds of love everywhere she goes.” ‘Disabled child will take me to paradise' Kahkashan Fatima is the mother of 14-year-old disabled child, Saad Shahid. She is a housewife and keeps busy taking care of him. “My son was born disabled. I never neglect him. We take him out with us everywhere and I bathe him daily. I think disabled children are a gift from God and that they need special attention and special care,” she said. Fatima said that she never thinks of her son as being disabled. “He will take me to paradise. He is the pride of my family,” she said.
